Frank Stapleton

Frank Stapleton is a former Irish footballer, predominantly remembered for his time spent at Arsenal and Manchester United. Frank is also prominently remembered as one of the pivotal members of the Republic Of Ireland national team, as well as having managerial roles in the sport.

Frank began his playing career with the esteemed Arsenal football club. A talented and tough-tackling forward, Frank quickly made an impact in the game. He joined Arsenal in 1972 as an apprentice, making his debut with the team in a match against Stoke City in 1975. After a while Frank went on to form a valuable partnership with Malcolm Macdonald, scoring 46 goals between the two of them in the 1976-77 season. Frank was quickly rising in popularity at Arsenal, and he soon became Arsenal’s top scorer for three seasons and helped them win the1979 FA Cup Final.

After making 300 appearances and scoring 108 goals for Arsenal, Frank transferred to Manchester United. Frank went on to help Manchester win both the 1983 and 1985 FA Cups. During those games Frank made history, becoming the first man to score for two different clubs in FA Cup Finals. In 1987 Frank made the decision to leave Manchester United, having scored 78 goals and playing in 365 matches for the team. After leaving Manchester Frank went on to join a number of clubs for brief spells, beginning with Ajax Amsterdam. Frank then returned to England and played for a number of teams such as Derby County, Aldershot, Huddersfield Town and Blackburn Rovers. Frank also spent a brief period of time playing for the French team Le Havre and English Bradford City. Frank spent time as the player-manager whilst at Bradford, before announcing his retirement as a player during the 1994-95 season.

As well as playing for domestic clubs, Frank also devoted his time to playing internationally for the Republic Of Ireland. He was capped 71 times by Ireland, making his debut for the team in a friendly match against Turkey in 1976. One of Frank’s most prominent roles for Ireland was their attempt to qualify for the 1982 World Cup, and he was made the captain of the national team for the campaign of the 1986 World Cup too. Frank delivered an impeccable performance at the Euro 1988 qualifiers and later went on to captain the team at the 1988 Euro Finals, playing in all of their matches. By this point, Frank had made 20 goals for the team, which landed him the title of the national side’s all-time leading goalscorer and the record was not beaten for another 10 years.

After retiring from playing football Frank moved to the United States to continue his passion for the sport. He was given the chance to manage Major League Soccer, with the responsibility of managing the New England Revolution in 1996. After this Frank returned to England where he took on the role of specialist coach for Bolton Wanderers. In 2014, Frank was given another managerial role, acting as assistant manager to the Jordan national football team.

With experience both on and off the pitch, Frank has a unique point of view to bring to after-dinner speeches. With both passion and commitment to football, he is able to deliver interesting and inspirational tales, entertaining for an audience of any size.